Padlock Management
Introduction This article talks about the Padlock feature and it's uses. A Padlock can be regarded as the Object which is currently in the tracking slot. An Object that is being tracked using this feature can be refered to as being padlocked. (All targetable buildings/airplanes/ground mobiles fall under the category of Objects. Missiles are an exception, and cannot be padlocked.) Padlocking describes any method or action that results in an Object being padlocked. Various keys will center the view to a particular Object. This will be refered to as Eyeballing and it results in the eyeballed Object getting padlocked. Padlock Management Maintaining the current Padlock The Padlock tracking slot is a feature seperate from other tracking methods, such as LANTIRN or IRST. This Padlock tracking slot can either be occupied or empty, and only one Object can be the Padlock at any given time. A padlocked Object will remain padlocked until one of the two happens: *A different Object gets padlocked. (By eyeballing a new Object.) *The Padlock Filter gets changed. (By pressing F11 or by changing to a weapon that does not support the current Padlock Filter type. An exception to this point is: Changing the weapon type while viewing the Padlock after pressing F4 or SHIFT+F4. This does NOT result the Filter type being changed, even if the Padlock is not supported by the newly selected weapon.) Padlocking an Object As mentioned before, certain views will eyeball an Object. When in the cockpit, this is recognizeable by the fact, that the pilot's view then keeps that Object centered and follows it around. Eyeballing an Object in an external views such as SHIFT+F2 will have the same effect, and will also padlock that Object. Below is a list of the various available keypresses and which Object gets padlocked: *Z: Padlocks an Object of the selected Filter type within visual range. Subsequent pressing cycles through available Objects. *SHIFT+Z: Similar to Z, although subsequent pressing does NOT properly cycle through all available Objects, so this keypress is not recomended. *F2: Padlocks the active Target on the Shoot List. Sets the Padlock Filter to match the type of the active Target. *SHIFT+F2: Same as F2. *F3: Padlocks the current Threat. Sets the Padlock Filter to match the type of the current Threat. *SHIFT+F3: Same as F3. *F5: Padlocks your wingman. This is the only way to set the Padlock Filter to your flight, and pressing Z will cycle through your available wingmen. Pressing SHIFT+Z will broaden the Filter to all the air flights in the area, as opposed to just your flight, and subsequent pressing of SHIFT+Z cycles through and views all available LEAD planes (i.e. LEAD of the Strike Flight, LEAD of an Escort Flight, LEAD of an Enemy CAP, ...) Pressing Z after the Filter has been broadend will cycle through all the available planes of the area (i.e. LEAD of Strike, TWO of Strike, LEAD of Escort, TWO of Escort, LEAD of Enemy CAP, ...) *SHIFT+F5: Same as F5. Viewing the Padlock There are also certain views available that will eyeball the current Padlock without changing it: *F4: This will simply eyeball your current Padlock. Subsequent pressing cycles between the the internal 'View Padlock' and external 'Player to Padlock' view. *SHIFT+F4: This shows the external 'Padlock to Player' view. You will see the Padlock in the foregorund, while the view will be centered to the position of the Player's plane. (Sometimes, due to certain camera angle limitations, Padlocks on ground level will not appear in the line of sight, due to the fact that the camera cannot submerge underground.) *F9: This shows the padlocked Object from a moveable external view. *SHIFT+F9: This shows the external Chase Cam of the padlocked Object. Category:Tactics and Gameplay